Óscar Jaenada was born on 4 May 1975 in
Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain. He began acting at the age of thirteen, performing in Shakespeare plays. Jaenada moved to Madrid to improve his career prospects. He obtained several television roles, appearing in
7 vidas and
Hospital Central, before landing work in feature films. Some of his early roles were in such productions as
Lisístrata (2002) and
Descongélate (2003). Shortly afterwards,
Achero Mañas offered him the leading role in
November (2003). Jaenada was a candidate for the
Goya Awards in 2004 as best actor for his role in this production but couldn't attend the ceremony as he was in Argentina filming
El juego de la verdad. Upon his return to Spain, he was offered several roles in comedies. Among them was the lead in the film
XXL (2004). He also landed a permanent role in the series
Javier ya no vive solo. Just as Jaenada was beginning to feel pigeonholed as a comedian,
Jaime Chávarri sent him a script for a film about the life of flamenco singer
Camarón de la Isla.
Camarón premiered at the
San Sebastián International Film Festival in 2005. On 15 December 2005, Jaenada was nominated for the
Goya Award for Best Actor in the film. Nine days later, he was nominated for the
Silver Frames prize and the
Circle of Cinematographic Writers medal. At the beginning of 2006, Jaenada won all three honours. Also in 2006, Jaenada served as master of ceremonies with
Candela Peña at the inaugural gala of the
Málaga Film Festival. A week later, he obtained a nomination at the
Spanish Actors Union for his work with Chávarri. In 2011, Jaenada obtained a role in
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, where he played "the Spaniard",
King Ferdinand's most trusted agent and an officer of the Spanish Royal Navy. He returned to the pirate theme in 2011 for the
Telecinco series
Piratas. In 2015, he confessed that his career in Spanish cinema "was not on the right track", and that the bulk of offers he received came from the Americas. ==Personal life==